TRAVEL DIARY

A weblog regularly updated by Jodi Rose.

Monday, January 14, 2008

2:31 PM
Posted by jodi rose

thank god I didn't kill it after all....

remind me not to mess with technology again.
at least not unsupervised.

mostly my strategy of being slightly outside the parameters of what can actually be done, with the tools currently in existence, works fairly well. now and then the system falls over.

it's all part of the great anti-functionality anti-statement.
currently in production. or not. maybe it will never appear.

had a fabulous weekend of high-intensity art immersion.
'history will repeat' at kunstwerke then 'from pixel to spark' at martin-gropius bau. Both excellent, reflective, thought-provoking, inspiring, and over now. Highlights were the re-enactments of godard's (?) existential interview with a ten-year-old girl; various people with a big red flag running through the streets of berlin/stockholm (1972/2005?); the re-creation of orgreave miner's strike and police clash in 84/85 (now). See, I'm not too good with dates, but I remember faces ;)

And from the pixel show - it was a weird juxtaposition with the 'topographies of terror' outdoor exhibition in the empty lot next door, which was an old sculpture school that had been turned into a gestapo prison used for interrogation and incarceration of various political, intellectual and other undesirables of the state during the war. I was going to say that at least now being an artist/intellectual probably only means that you will have a fairly precarious existence, not being actively threatened and harassed. Then thinking of the 'new' sedition laws, the critical art ensemble and various other cases of 'national security' intimidation of cultural workers and thinkers today, guess that is a little naive. pause for thought.

back to the pretty lights....
nam june paik's candle tv was a beautiful start to the show; those strobe sculptures completely turned my head inside out; the spinning light ropes with patterns were absolutely mesmerising - and inspired ideas for the impossible bridge over the ruined pylons in kreuzberg, in planning stage with filip and maika; lost myself completely in the 'hemisphere' minimal techno tent, lying on the ground in a weird light induced transcendent state, vanishing into my own eyelids. Intense.

sparked lots of thoughts on installation and immersion in art, what works for me, what doesnt' (yes to lying on the floor and projecting on a domed roof; no to big spinning machines with 3d glasses and circular screens, floor screens, and movement sensor 'interactions'. Think there needs to be a very finely tuned balance between the composition of the work and the way the audience can interact and change it. Some of the abstract pieces were the most intriguing, while the obvious landscapes and tricks lost my interest fairly quickly. Note for the future.

Beautiful strategies of resistance from the outdoor exhibition, one in particular stayed in mind, the Kabarett Katacombe, whose director was 'vague, absent-minded, and only alluded to the punch-line of a joke.'

oblique communication 101.